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Jul 16 Baltic Frontier Seabuckthorn IPA

What is seabuckthorn (havtorn på Dansk) you may ask? Well I had to look it up. Here is the answer via wikipedia. Basically it is a bush that grows along the coast in the scandinavian and baltic regions. It is used as a flavoring agent in this beer along with juniper berries (enebær). The whole beer is a celebration of the beer culture shared by the people of the baltic region. You can read more about all of it on To Øl's website here.

It pours an amzing rich orange color. Totally looks like a fruit juice or smoothy. Starts out with a thick offwhite head almost two fingers. It falls away pretty quickly leaving minimal trace behind. The smell is immense and fresh. The normal smell of hops from a good IPA is there, with just a little something different nagging at the nose. A little sharp fruitiness escapes from under the hops and gives this beer a cool air of mystery. The taste was not at all what i was expecting. There is a nice American IPA that is the base of this beer, piney and citrus hops are certainly present. But the addition of the seabuckthorn and juniper berries add a whole new depth to the flavor. You get the juniper immediately a rush of gin like flavors (because juniper is one of the key flavorings of gin). My tongue tingles with the aggressive bitterness, bit it is not just the hop bitterness the other ingredients add something to it. The seabuckthorn seems to come through as a slight tart fruitiness in the taste but it is quite overwhelmed by the massive piney bitterness of hops and juniper. An incredibly dry mouthfeel, possibly the dryest IPA I have ever expeirienced.

I have not had many beers by To Øl, really only their Mochaccino Messiah before this. I can truly say this is one of the more unique beers I have ever had. So I will be picking up a lot more of their beers in the future.